I Fought The Law
by Bacop1
Summary: The aftermath of the kidnapping by the Jack of Knives. Nicole faces her shortcomings. The Earps try to keep their secrets secret. Wayverly and Nicole navigate the tides of their relationship and a new evil force threatens them all.
1. Chapter 1

Waverly Earp walked into the police station with a fresh box of doughnuts. Balanced in her other hand was a travel mug filled with a cappuccino. She wanted to surprise Officer Nicole Haught. From their text message exchange last night, Nicole was out fairly late on a traffic accident just west of town. Waverly thought that a warm cup of coffee and some light flirting might brighten her day. 

She smiled to herself thinking about the Officer and their blossoming relationship. She could hardly believe how forward she had been. Literally throwing herself at Nicole in the sheriffs office of all places. But unlike Champ and the other boys who saw her as merely a conquest Nicole Haught was ever the gentlewoman. Waverly didn't feel pressured or intimidated. Even with these new and confusing feelings about being with a woman, she was losing her fear minute by minute. 

She passed by the squad room and saw Sheriff Neadleys door was closed and all the desks were vacant. She'd hoped Nicole would be there finishing her reports from her previous tour of duty. Frowning ever so slightly she made her way into the Black Badges Division office. Xavier Dolls and Wynonna were sitting with their heads close together intently staring at the screen of a Panasonic Tuffbook. 

"Good morning crime fighters" Waverly said in a singsong voice. "I brought breakfast!" She placed the box onto the large conference table and removed her coat. Neither Dolls nor Wynonna had even acknowledged her presence.

"Ok is this a new thing...?" She asked "or are you live steaming porn?"

At the word porn Wynonna lifted her head and saw her standing in the room. She slowly closed the lid of the laptop and greeted her sister.

"Hey Waves." She said. Waverly could only describe her sisters behavior as odd. Like the way a kid acted when they were caught with their hand in a cookie jar.

"What's the spooky routine for? Dolls did you hack my Netflix again?" She laughed.

Dolls looked over at Wynonna. He gave her a slight nod then got up to leave the office.

"Okay who died?" Waverly joked. Wynonna looked down and Waverly began to panic. "Oh god Wynonna who died?!" She began to panic. Was it Nicole? Gus? Sheriff Neadley?

Wynonnas eyes got big "No Waves no one. Everyone is ok."

Waverly took a relieved breath. "Then what the hells going on?"

Wynonna motioned her over to the computer. "They found dash cam footage. From Nicole's patrol car. From the day of the kidnapping."

Waverly brought a hand to her mouth.

"Where's Nicole? Has she seen this?" Waverly asked from behind her hands. Wynonna nodded.

"Neadley brought the tapes to Dolls. He told Nicole about them. Assured her no one else would see them but she took it pretty rough. She was embarrassed. She apologized to me for not doing her job. "

"Where is she?" Waverly repeated.

Wynonna shrugged lightly. "Nobody has seen her since. Neadley told her to take the day."

Waverly sighed sadly. This was bad. "Wynonna we have to tell her. She thinks she failed. She had no idea she was fighting a Revenant."

Wynonna scoffed slightly. "I watched the tapes Waves. Officer puppy dog eyes is more like a pitbull. She fought hard. She made me look like a freakin tickle me Elmo out there."

Waverly without thinking walked forward towards the table. "I want to see."

"It ain't pretty Waves." Wynonna said. Waverly bit her bottom lip and nodded slightly.

Wynonna lifted the screen of the laptop and clicked the touch pad.

Nicole wiped the sweat from her brow and bent over at the waist to catch her breath.

"Weak ass." She muttered to herself. She stood up and began punching the well worn bag covered in duck tape. How utterly embarrassing. Now everyone would doubt her abilities. Wynonna Earp was wrong. Waverly didn't need to be hanging out with her. Even being armed she couldn't even protect herself.

The speakers blast out angry music. Nicole punched to the rhythm of the songs that filled the room. She needed to work harder.

Even Wynonna had called her a dumb flatfoot. She felt stupid at this moment. Whatever went on behind the closed doors in the "Black Badge Office" was obviously too "high speed" for her. She punched harder. Something was going on. She knew it but no one would tell her the damn truth. She continued punching as a new song filled the room. Purgatory was a small town. She would get to the bottom of this. One arrest at a time. She would do whatever she could to stop these crimes. And she damn sure was gonna make sure she never let herself become a victim again.


	2. Chapter 2

Waverly Earp listened to Nicole's voice as it repeated the message she'd heard at least a dozen times. "Hi you've reached Nicole Haught. Leave a message. ".

It was a basic voicemail prompt. Waverly sighed as the beep sounded in her ear.

"Hey it's me. Again. Waverly. Earp. I mean I guess you know that. We're kind of worried-I...I'm pretty worried. So could you please call me back?"

She hung up and placed the phone on the table.

Wynonna had left a few minutes ago to get them something to eat. Waverly rubbed her hands over her eyes and looked at the laptop. She pressed the space bar again. The dash cam video was similar to many she had seen before on the news or on YouTube. It was shocking however to see her sister and Nicole as the "stars."

Seeing people you cared for suffer was a horrible experience. But Waverly was determined to watch it again. Her job was research. Her job was facts. And as painful as it was, there were always lessons to be learned. The first three times she tried watching she did not make it all the way through. She was determined this time. She owed it to them to do her best.

The screen brightened and she leaned in to look closely. The video shows Nicole exiting her patrol car and speaking to the dark cloaked man in the roadway. Out of nowhere he grabbed her jacket and began lifting her off the ground. Her sister appeared in frame moments later kicking the rear of the Revenant's leg. Nicole brought both arms down and broke the grasp the demon had on her. She fell to the ground and apparently the audio button struck the ground because now she could hear the struggle as well.

Wynonna was in a struggle with the stranger now, their arms locked together. He threw Wynonna to the ground and her sister's head made a sickening thud as it struck the icy ground. As he advanced towards Wynonna, Nicole lowered her head and tackled the killer to the ground. She was struggling to get her gun out of her holster. The demon slashed a knife up towards her head and she barely moved away in time. The knife however sliced through Nicole's palm. She yelled in pain.

Wynonna began retreating towards the car, she was holding her head and was stumbling. Nicole yelled again as the demon squeezed her already injured hand. He then struck her head and she fell to the ground. Wynonna came back into view and threw her broken cell phone to the ground in frustration. The demon advanced on Nicole's unmoving form as Wynonna yelled at him.

"Leave her alone you asshole, it's me you want."

He turned towards Wynonna and by some unknown force pinned her to the hood of the car. He picked up Nicole and began walking off screen. Nicole came to and began to struggle. A well placed blow between his shoulders made him loosen his grip. He dropped her and kneeled in front of her. He grabbed both sides of her head with his hands and yelled in anger.

"You're the wrong kind!" He screamed he then kicked her in the chest twice causing her to grunt in pain. If Waverly didn't know better she would guess the sickening crunch was the sound of broken ribs. The demon grabbed Wynonna and stuck a syringe in her neck. She collapsed into his arms. He began to carry her towards an approaching vehicle.

Nicole limped towards him. "Put her down!" She yelled.

The demon turned towards her and flicked his hand at her. An unknown force lifted the officer off of her feet and literally threw her onto the hood of the car. Waverly could see the blood staining leg of the brown uniform pants as Nicole slid to the ground.

Nicole's wheezing breath sounds were loud in the speakers. She was crawling towards the patrol car drivers side door Out of camera view Waverly heard the door of the Crown Victoria open she heard and Nicole fumbled for the radio.

"Officer down." She wheezed in pain. There was nothing but static. "Signal 13! I need help." She said a bit louder. Waverly saw the demon and his apprentice load Wynonna into the rear of the black Cadillac SUV.

The demon turned back towards the police car and somehow with inhuman speed was right next to the door.

"Why won't you die?" He growled as he pulled Nicole from the car by her gunbelt.

Nicole still had a hold of the radio microphone as he drug her away. It tore from the dash leaving wires dangling in the seat. The gear shift was struck during the struggle in the car and the video shows the car inching forward. He dragged her by her foot and Waverly covered her hand with her mouth as the red streak of Nicole's blood streaked through the pristine white snow. Out of view now she only saw the vehicle driving forward. She heard everything though.

The apprentice walked off camera and Waverly could hear the digging. She knew what was happening. They were burying her in the ditch. A loud crash could be heard in the distance and the pair retreated into the car, spooked so they stopped short from burying Nicole completely. Before driving away the demon smiled into the camera and left his playing card on the windshield.

Waverly heard Nicole's waining wheezing breaths. They were short and shallow. The audio began to crackle. Most likely a malfunction in the transmitter from the damage or the cold. As static got louder she heard Nicole's last breaths and if she wasn't imagining it, Nicole softly saying her name.

She stood up placing her hands on her hips. She walked slowly around the room. Tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over.

If she had known. If she hadn't been a coward she would have never left Nicole in that hospital room alone. She was angry with herself. Nicole had literally died to try and protect Wynonna. Nicole had no way to know that there was nothing she could have done to stop it. She exhaled a deep breath and looked up as Wynonna walked in the door with a brown paper bag.

"Hey." Wynonna said.

Waverly shook her head. "I trust her. She deserves to know."

Wynonna nodded back. "I agree."

Wynonna began pulling Chinese food boxes from the bag.

"I really wish you had some whiskey in that bag." Waverly lamented.

Her sister grinned. "Waves scientifically speaking I am usually never more than 6 feet away from a good bottle of booze."

She slid a small bottle of Jameson whiskey out of her rear pocket.

"Figured we might need it after watching that shit show. Remind me to take a Tae Bo class or something." She joked.

She took a swig and handled the bottle to Waverly.

"I care about her." Waverly whispered.

Wynonna nodded. "I kinda figured. I approve. If that means anything to you."

Waverly said, "It does." Wynonna grinned at her sister.

"And she's like a walking bumper sticker Waves. And she can hold her booze. And she's way smarter than Champ. And she's armed. And she likes my ass."

Waverly's eyes shot up to meet her sisters.

"What?!" Waverly asked with what Wynonna hoped was mock anger.

Wynonna shrugged with a smile.

Waverly's phone beeped alerting her of a text message. It was from Nicole.


	3. Chapter 3

Nicole Haught set down her phone. She felt guilty not calling Waverly, but she was too damn embarrassed to even speak to her. She was afraid of hearing the pity in Waverly's voice. She sent a simple text.

"Thanks for checking on me. Working through some things. I'm ok."

She was ok, physically that was. She turned on the shower in the locker room of the small gym. She thought back to her training at the police academy. She had excelled there. And had never backed away from the challenge of fighting a stronger or faster recruit. She knew that in real life there were no timeouts. She thought back to her kidnapping as she stepped under the hot spray of water.

What could she have done differently?

She shook her head and rubbed at the small scar on the inside of her right hand. She flexed it then made a fist. Her knuckles were raw from the heavy bag.

As she washed her brain was running wild. She felt an unnatural pull to the town of Purgatory. She knew that a larger city would offer her more money financially and more experience as a police officer. Hell most of her classmates from the academy and her family gave her a lot of grief over taking the small town gig. She just knew however that this was where she belonged.

She recalled the first time meeting the Sheriff. She had been out with her academy classmates at a bar. As she leaned against the wall near the dart board her eyes spotted a very drunk and very vulnerable looking brunette headed toward the bathrooms. She was closely followed by a man who appeared to be just as intoxicated. Her "cop" instincts flared and she followed closely behind them. The girl almost fell to the floor just outside of the bathrooms. Nicole pushed past the drunken man and helped the girl to her feet.

"Hey!" The drunken frat boy protested.

She never said a word and with one hand holding the girl's arm and another wrapped around her waist she walked them into the cold night air, the wolf whistles and catcalls of her classmates trailing her out the door. The cold helped snap the brunette out of her stupor.

"Please call my dad." The girl said as she shivered. Nicole took her jacket off and wrapped it around the girl's shoulder.

"Ok." Nicole said. "I'm Nicole. You're safe now."

The girl handed off her phone and slumped heavy onto Nicole's side. Nicole walked her further into the parking lot. Soon she was joined by one of her classmates.

"Hey Haught!" He called as he jogged out to her.

"Hey Diaz. Help me with her." Between the two they got the girl seated in Nicole's Ford F-150 pickup.

"She's schwasted." Diaz commented. "I'm glad you got her out of there. Frat Boy Ken doll was following her all night. I saw you snatch her outta there. Good work."

"Thanks buddy." She said with a smile.

Nicole began scrolling through the IPhone looking for a contact marked "Dad." She found one and pressed the send button.

Several rings later a gruff and sleepy voice answered. "What's the matter kiddo?"

"Sir- my name is Nicole. I have your daughter here. She's. Well she's had a bit too much to drink and..."

He cut her off. "Where are you?"

She rattled off the address. An abrupt click sounded in her ear.

Diaz handed Nicole a bottle of water and she in turn got the girl to begin slowly sipping the drink.

After a while Nicole heard the sound of sirens approaching. The girl began to come around again.

A Purgatory Sheriffs SUV pulled to a stop in the lot. Nicole waved as the man got out. He approached wearing jeans and a jacket marked with the name Sheriff Neadley on the right chest.

He shook his head as he took in the state of his daughter. "Don't you kids know how the hell to Slow down with the booze!? Some friends you are."

Nicole stood up straight. "We don't know your daughter Sir. We just saw her in some trouble and stepped in."

The man looked at Diaz. Diaz held up his hands in mock surrender. "It was all Nicole Sheriff. She saw your daughter in a bad spot and got her away from the drunken guy following her into the bathroom."

Sheriff Neadley sighed heavily. With a career in law enforcement he knew how dangerous that situation could have been.

"Thanks then. To both of you." Between the three they got the girl into the SUV.

"So you two military? You seem that way." The man asked.

"No sir, we are about a week away from graduating the police academy." Diaz answered.

The Sheriff smiled. "I could always use good officers in Purgatory. It's not the big city, but it's a hell of a challenge. Not many places where you know you might be the only person on the road at any time. And you can really make a difference there."

He handed them two business cards. They accepted them.

The Sheriff then stepped forward and shook Nicole's hand.

"Thank you." He said sincerely.

"Yes sir." She answered.

As he drove away she put the card in her pocket. She wanted to make a difference. And she knew small towns usually got the short end of the stick when it came t academy graduates.

Diaz patted her back. "Nice job Haught stuff." He teased.

"Stuff it pretty boy." She joked back. The walked back into the bar.

A week later Nicole was graduated and headed straight for Purgatory. The Sheriff greeted her warmly and offered her a job on the spot. She accepted. She was ready.

Nicole returned home only once to tell her family of her new position and to pack her belongings.

From that moment on she swore to keep Purgatory, her new home, safe.

She returned from the memory as the water grew cold.

As she dressed in jeans and a v neck sweater she promised herself to be the cop she was destined to be. She picked up the phone.

"Hey Diaz. How's life in the big city? I need some intel on motorcycle gang activity in the Ghost River triangle. And anything you got on their movements in your city. There's something weird going on in Purgatory and I think I might be sitting on a powder keg."


	4. Chapter 4

Nicole pulled her truck into the station lot. She grabbed her stetson from the passenger seat and put it on her head. She also grabbed a file folder with dozens of pages of police intelligence bulletins from her friend Diaz. She glanced over the information briefly before passing out the previous night, but knew she had a ton of work ahead of her, and a lot of explaining to do. In her focus, and exhaustion she forgot to charge her cell phone. It was early in Purgatory, the day shift beginning at 0600 hrs. She would call Waverly at a more decent hour she lamented.

As she walked towards the entrance of the station she heard a honking horn then an engine roar then the squeal of brakes as a red Jeep Wrangler slid to a stop just feet from where she walked, one tire up on the curb. A very angry looking Waverly Earp jumped out from the driver's side.

"Jesus!" Nicole yelled as she looked at the angry woman before her.

"You don't get to do that!" Waverly shouted as she stalked towards Nicole. Waverly poked Nicole's chest with her index finger as she punctuated each word, "You. Don't. Disappear."

Nicole accidentally dropped the file onto the ground, then held Waverley's hand between both of hers.

"I'm sorry." she said sheepishly. "I just..."

"No." Waverly cut her off. "See maybe it's me. My mother left, my sister Willa disappeared, Wynnona was gone until our Uncle died...maybe I'm the common denominator here. I mean what the heck is it?"

Nicole shook her head. "Waves..."

"No Nicole I mean it. We can't hide from each other, and now that I've found you I can't..." Waverly stopped herself from finishing her sentence. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. She wanted to say 'I can't lose you.' But it was so much. So much so fast.

Nicole gently raised Nicole's hand to her lips. She gently kissed the back of her hand. "I don't mean to keep scaring you." she said.

Waverly smiled at the memory of when Nicole fist said that to her. Her anger slowly began to melt "I was gonna hunt you down you know. I had drones and surveillance planes on standby. I ordered a bloodhound on Amazon." Waverly lightly joked as she filed with the zipper of Nicole's police coat.

"I don't have any doubt. And I'm sorry. I just needed to sort through some things. I needed-" Nicole blew out a breath. "I needed to remind myself why I'm here, and what I'm prepared to do to defend this town. And I needed to make sure that what happened to Wynonna and I..." Nicole stopped her sentence. She looked down at her feet. "I promise I won't let anything like that happen again Waves."

Waverly smiled. "I'm glad you said that, I know it won't. We have to talk. All of us. It will make so much more sense."

Nicole nodded in agreement. "We do, but I have some business to take care of."

Waverly raised an eyebrow in question.

"I won't be off the grid. I promise." Nicole said with a smile, but her face quickly got serious. She lowered her voice as she spoke. "I found things Waves. Things that link some of these unexplained events to an outlaw motorcycle gang, possible judicial misconduct...I have to be careful here but I think Purgatory might be ground zero for some pretty bad stuff."

"You have no idea." Waverly muttered under her breath. Nicole turned her head questioningly. Waverly was impressed with the Officer before her. Nicole was smart. She was putting together information at dangerously fast pace. More now then ever Waverly knew she had to bring Nicole Haught into the "inner sanctum" so to speak that was Black Badges. It shouldn't be hard to convince Xavier Dolls to accept her. She was smart, she was tough, and she was dedicated. Very few "mere mortals" faced off with a powerful Revenant and lived to tell the tale. That alone should get her into their Scooby squad.

Nicole bent down and picked up her file off the snowy ground.

Waverly took a step forward as Nicole stood. They were pressed chest to chest. The cold morning air causing their breath to come out in puffs of white in front of their faces. Waverly smiled put her hands on Nicole's shoulders and reached up on tiptoe to press her lips gently to Nicole's. There was a catch in Nicole's breath and a moment of hesitation. This was a parking lot of a public building well within sight of the streets of small town Purgatory. The last thing she wanted was to further complicate Waverly's life. Any hesitation melted away as she responded to Waverley's probing mouth. They kissed and Nicole felt a spreading warmth flush through her chest. This. This was everything. They broke apart breathlessly at the sound of a passing car.

Both smiled sheepishly at each other. Waverly could hardly believe that the fierce fighter she saw on that dash cam video was the same tender and gentle woman standing before her.

Without warning two officers ran out of the station door.

"Haught let's go! Freddie Bode's girlfriend just called. They had a huge domestic on his ranch, and he's a liquored up and threatening her and her kids."

Nicole pushed the file folder into Waverly's hands. She turned and ran towards her patrol car, jumping into the Crown Victoria, and flicking on the lights. She turned the car towards the exit and stopped momentarily. She gazed out the window and kissed the palm of her left hand before placing it flush against the window. Waverly nodded and put her hand to her heart. Both smiled. As Nicole Haught sped down Main street, lights flashing and sirens wailing, Waverly exhaled and placed her hand in her coat pocket to retrieve her phone. The name the officer had called out was Freddie Bode. Frederick Bode was more like it Waverly thought. The name stuck in her mind from her years of research. Bode. A man who was part of the crew that killed her great great grandfather's brother Morgan. A dangerous Revenant.

She pressed the screen and put the phone to her ear. Wynonna's hung over voice came through the speaker. "If this isn't a booty call or someone from Publisher's Clearing House..."

"The only ass you're getting is of the Revenant species. Get up!"

"Ew..." she heard Wynonna groan as the phone obviously tumbled to the floor. She heard a muffled male voice conversing with Wynonna. Her eyebrows raised. Was it Dolls? Or maybe even Doc? Or even...barf...Champ?

Wynonna got back on the line. "I'm calling the calvary Pilgrim. Meet you at the station."

Waverly walked inside of the station. She placed Nicole's file on her desk. She then walked into the Black Badges Office. She opened the bulletin board and began gathering maps and paperwork. She said a silent prayer for Nicole to be safe until they could get there. She grabbed a dated, faded photo of Frederick Bode. It was a death pose, and pennies covered his eyes. "Times up shiteater." she said to the photo in a determined tone.

No one messed with the Earps and got away with it.


	5. Chapter 5

Nicole Haught kneeled near the engine block of her Ford Crown Victoria. She pointed her gun towards the small farmhouse in front of her.

Another officer's voice called over the loudspeaker of the patrol car.

"Come on Freddie we just want to talk!"

They'd been here for twenty minutes. So far no movement from inside the home. No voice contact. This was bad.

As she kept her eyes on the front door, she heard the crunching of tires behind her.

Taking a quick glance she saw the Sheriff's SUV and the blacked out Yukon of Deputy Marshall Dolls. She turned her attention back to the house. A glint of sunlight hit her eyes. It was coming from the upper window. Without hesitation Nicole yelled, "Everyone down!"

Her warning was cut short by the sound of gunfire. Bullets peppered the hood of her patrol car. She tucked herself as tightly as she could next to the car, holding her breath as the hiss and zip of a bullet passing by her head filled her ears.

"You back off or I kill em all!" a gravely voice yelled from the inside of the house. A commotion followed. Breaking glass and the sound of a woman's yell. Small kids crying.

"Hold your fire!" ordered the Sheriff as he crouched next to her.

"Hold your fire! He has hostages!" he called again, loud enough so the other officers heard his commands.

The large black SUV pulled up nose to nose with her patrol car and Deputy Marshall Dolls, Wynonna Earp and Waverly poured out and hid behind it.

Nicole's eyes got huge as she saw the youngest Earp at this dangerous scene.

"Waverly!" she harshly whispered. "You gotta get out of here!"

Before Waverly could respond another volley of gunfire erupted. The rounds seemed to bounce off of the black SUV. Nicole was intrigued. Bullet proof SUV. Highly tactical stuff. Super expensive.

Even for a Deputy Marshall.

Dolls pulled a black backpack covered with MOLLE webbing out of the back seat. He tossed a gas mask to Wynonna and donned one himself.

"Gas?" Nicole asked incredulously. "Sheriff there are kids in there!" she said.

Waverly crawled towards Wynonna and helped her adjust the mask.

"Shit." Nicole whispered. She low crawled to the trunk of her patrol car and grabbed her go bag from the trunk. She attached the drop leg gas mask pouch to her leg and pulled it out, affixing it to her face."

She crawled back over to the front of the car and slid in behind where Wynonna was crouched.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dolls asked her.

"With you." she replied.

Wynonna shrugged. "Threesomes aren't normally my thing, but let's do it."

Waverly made eye contact with Nicole through the gas mask. Nicole could see the fear in her eyes. Nicole winked at her as she stood and ran with Dolls and Wynonna to the side of the front door. They stacked on the door, waiting for Dolls to give the command to go.

Nicole slid closer to the Sheriff to get a better vantage. Sheriff Nedley pushed her back towards cover. He tossed her a Remington 870 shotgun that had been locked in the front of Nicole's police car.

"Watch the windows." he ordered.

Dolls broke the bottom window and threw the tear gas canisters inside. The house began to fill and loud coughing and gagging was heard. The Deputy Marshall nodded at Wynonna and Nicole. With the signal given Nicole booted the front door with a solid kick from her right leg. Deputy Marshall Dolls then deployed two "flash bang grenades." The bright flash and loud noise made Waverly jump. The glass in all of the windows had blown out by the concussion. The three moved quickly into the home and more shouting was heard. Then the crack of a gunshot...then another, and another. More screams.

The telltale sound of the opening of the gates of hell filled Waverly's ears. The Revenant was dead. Wynonna must have been dead on with Peacemaker. However there had been many shots. Waverly glanced at the first floor and her eyes caught glimpse of an orange glow...then thick dark smoke.

"Aw hell." she heard the Sheriff say. He grabbed his radio.

"Haught! You guys gotta evac! The flash bangs caused a fire!" He looked to his left and whistled to his other Deputys. "Get the fire department out here now! And medics! Move!" They scrambled to follow his orders.

From the smoke emerged Wynonna, followed by Dolls who was carrying a woman in his arms. Last was Nicole Haught, a boy of no more than 3 cradled against her chest. They ran and collapsed behind the vehicles.

They all stripped the gas masks from their faces and coughed. The woman had a large bruise to her cheek. She was starting to come to. Waverly grabbed a first aid kit and began to tend to her. The woman grabbed Waverly's hand. She rasped, "He said that the light was going away and everything would be shadows." Waverly furrowed her brow. Shadows? The woman must have been concussed.

Waverly looked up and saw Nicole with the small boy with dirty blonde hair in her lap. The boy tugged at her uniform name tag. She looked up and caught eyes with Waverly. Waverly felt a longing burn in her chest that she'd never felt before. Seeing Nicole with that child brought up feelings, so so many feelings. She literally shook her own head to clear her thoughts.

"It's ok." Waverly said to the woman as she tried to calm her.

"My babies!" the woman cried.

"It's ok ma'am we have your son right here. He's fine." Wynonna said calmly. She patted Nicole on the shoulder in a congratulating manner.

"No!" the woman yelled. "Where's Grace? Where's my daughter?"

A small explosion blew out part of the roof on the home which was burning steadily now.

Wynonna cocked her head momentarily then her eyes got wide. The child was still inside. Without thinking the Earp heir took off running towards the house.

"Wynonna!" a chorus of voices screamed.

Nicole watched as the woman pushed into he front of the house and disappeared up the stairs. She felt a familiar rush of adrenaline. Instantaneously she was back on that highway, the Jack of Knives taking Wynonna because she was too weak to stop him. She remembered the look on Waverly's face as she admitted her failure to protect her sister as she lay in her hospital bed. She couldn't let it happen again.

Without thinking she shoved the boy into Waverly's arms and took off at a dead run for the front door. Waverly stood and yelled,

"No!" She was held back by Deputy Marshall Dolls.

The smoke and heat were intense. Nicole low crawled up the stair towards the second floor. Sweat and soot burned her eyes. She began to cough.

"Wynonna!" she yelled. She pushed open a door to find a bathroom. Empty. She continued crawling. Coughing. She could barely breathe. She heard Wynona's voice just ahead of her. She couldn't see anything.

"Grace!" Wynona's voice yelled.

Nicole picked up her pace, knowing she only had minutes before they all ended up suffocating from the smoke. They pushed open another door and found a child's room.

"Grace!" they yelled in unison.

Nicole remembered her training. Kids liked to hide. She checked the closet, no Grace. Under the bed. No grace. She turned and pushed Wynonna's hip towards the window. She saw, behind a large wooden doll house a small pink shoe.

"Here!" she called. She pulled the foot and out slid Grace.

Unconscious. Nicole felt a pulse under her fingers. But alive.

"We gotta move!" Wynonna screamed as the ceiling engulfed in flames. They pushed out of the room, trying to orient themselves in the thick smoke. They crawled, and coughed, and gagged, and crawled more.

Nicole held the five year old's back to her chest as she awkwardly tried to crawl with her legs and one arm. Wynonna collapsed just in front of her.

She slid next to the eldest Earp and grabbed the back of her jacket. "Move your top shelf ass now!" Nicole yelled.

Wynonna felt the stairs just in front of her. Both women half slid half fell down the stairs. With a screeching and crackling both looked up and felt a rush of air. They saw the walls bow with an unnatural force.

"Shit." they whispered simultaneously.

With a strength they did not know they possessed they dragged themselves to their feet. Wynonna grabbed Haught's belt to try and help her towards the door as the officer carried the limp child. They ran as fast as they could towards the light they saw through the open doorway. It was only a few feet but it felt like miles.

They ran...until the world exploded in a flash of white.


	6. Chapter 6

Waverly covered the child's and her head and ducked down at the blinding flash and sound of the explosion. As debris rained down around her everything seemed to be in slow motion. Her ears were ringing. She turned and saw Dolls pulling himself to his feet and running towards the house.

For a moment she felt like her heart had stopped. She'd lost them both. Wynonna and Nicole. The two people in the world who loved her the most. She saw the battered woman trying to get up into a sitting position. She helped her and quickly handed her the boy. Finally free of those responsibilities she turned slowly and steeled herself for the moment she'd see them both dead. Like her father...

Her hearing can back and she heard yelling.

"Waverly!" Her breath caught in throat.

It was Wynonna. She was alive! She rushed around to the front of the SUV and saw Wynonna walking to her supported by Dolls. The older Earp enveloped her in a big hug. Waverly squeezed her big sister then pushed her. She slapped the arm of Wynonna's leather jacket with her hand. The leather was torn and singed.

"You idiot!" Waverly yelled at her. Wynonna had run into that building without a thought and inadvertently dragged Nicole with her.

"Nicole?" Waverly asked as she now grasped the lapels of the burned coat.

"I'm sorry." Wynonna said As Waverly pushed past her.

A broken sob tore through Waverly's lips as she saw the scene in front of her.

Nicole was alive and desperately doing CPR on Grace.

Waverly was frozen in place as she watched the beautiful officer push on the child's chest as she counted out loud.

"7,8,9,10..." Nicole said. "Where the hell is the medic?" She shouted at no one in particular.

Another officer dropped to his knees next to Nicole and opened a medical bag searching for anything that would help. His hands were shaking.

Nicole leaned down and blew air into the tiny girls lungs. Then she began pushing again.

Waverly shook her head and snapped out of the daze she'd been in. She heard the wail of sirens coming down the roadway. She remembered taking a CPR class in high school. Champ had teased her about mouth to mouth as she tried to pay attention.

The training flooded back into her brain and she ran over skidding to a stop next to Nicole. She kneeled in the dirt and gently grabbed Nicole's arms halting her motion. She immediately began pushing, careful to not press too deep but firm enough to get the desired effect. Nicole slid forward and continued giving life sustaining breaths to Grace.

Wynonna along with everyone else had gathered near them. They all were silent. The only sounds were Grace's mothers' cries for the child to breathe, sirens getting closer, Waverly's quiet counts and Nicole breathing air into the child's lungs.

Sheriff Nedley placed his hands on Grace's mother's shoulders as she cried and clutched the baby to her chest.

"Come on. Breathe. " he prayed.

Nicole blew in two quick breaths when Grace began to cough. Her eyes opened and she struggled to breathe, but she was alive.

Nicole quickly turned the child onto her side into the recovery position just as paramedics arrived on scene.

The fire department arrived moments later and a flurry of activity broke out at they tried to contain the flames.

Waverly stood and was pulled into and embrace by Wynonna. Her sister draped an arm around her shoulder. And leaned her cheek against Waverly's head.

The Sheriff guided the mother towards the ambulance.

Waverly took stock of Nicole as the officer related information to the medics and pushed the gurney.

She looked at her sister too. It was only then she saw the rip on Wynonnas pants that was bleeding, and saw the red angry skin that peeked out from under her coat.

Nicole too appeared covered in soot and the sleeve of her uniform was burned.

"Hospital. Now." Waverly ordered her sister.

Wynonna opened her mouth to protest, but the no nonsense look

on Waverly's face made her hesitate.

"So I guess some kind of a joke about Officer Haught being on fire...would be..." She trailed off as she saw the scowl appear on Waverly's face.

"Yeah completely inappropriate and too soon..." She finished quickly. "Come on Dolls why are you stalling? Take me to the hospital already." She said as she turned towards the SUV making a twisted face. Waverly faintly heard her asking the Deputy Marshall about a "bad ass bonus" or even workmans comp.

She walked towards Nicole who was closing the rear door of the ambulance.

The officer began to cough loudly. Sheriff Nedley put a hand on his officer's back as she coughed violently and spit out what looked like black water.

Nicole stood and took a deep breath coughing again.

"Shit." She said as she put her hands on her head trying any trick she could to open her airway. She hadn't felt this out of breath since running suicide sprints on the basketball court in college.

"Hospital Officer. Now." The sheriff ordered.

Waverly was worried as Nicole nodded and did not protest.

Nedley saw Waverly approaching.

"My hands are gonna be completely full holding this scene and waiting for the Arson squad and crime scene techs to get here. And I need to get my other officers back in service. Can you take my officer to the hospital?" He asked.

She nodded and grabbed Nicole's hand.

"I'll take care of her." Waverly said.

The SUV pulled to a stop next to them. Waverly gently pulled Nicole's hand and led her to the back seat. She slid inside. Waverly walked over with the Sheriff to retrieve Nicole's backpack from her bullet riddled patrol car. She grabbed the bag and threw it in the rear of the SUV and climbed inside.

Wynonna turned and looked at the redhead and smiled.

"Thanks for saving my ass." She said.

Nicole chuckled lightly remembering her words in the fire. "Sure thing." Nicole responded. The two fist bumped and then Nicole settled into the leather of the seats. Leaning her head on Waverly's shoulder.

"My top shelf ass." Wynonna said with enthusiasm.

Her sister and the officer began to laugh. She shook her head not knowing the inside joke. The continued laughing heartily and she couldn't help but smile. It must have been a stress reaction to almost dying. Again. They were crazy. She looked back and forth

between the two and shook her head.

"You're both nuts." She scolded them.

She wrapped her arm around Nicole's shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief. Still shaking her head at their laughter. Their voices were both raspy and they coughed intermittently.

Their laughter trailed off and the rest of the trip was made in silence.

Dolls navigated the winding roads until the pulled up to the small hospital. Staff was waiting at the ER doors for them. The Sheriff must have called ahead. Waverly was flanked by Wynonna and Nicole as they approached the two gurneys outside.

Dolls trailed ever so slightly behind them, talking into his cell phone in a clipped tone.

Waverly grabbed their hands in hers and led them toward. Both Wynonna and Nicole were both physically taller than Waverly and older, but in this moment there was no doubt who was in charge.

The women sat on their respective gurneys and both removed their gun belts handing them off to Dolls.

The hospital staff wheeled them both towards the back. Someone tried to prevent Waverly from entering the treatment area.

"They're my family." She protested. As she pushed past. Refusing to stop despite the shouts coming from the orderly.

Dolls badged the staff member and tried to smooth over Waverly's behavior.

She looked back and forth towards the beds which were side by side. A team surrounded each woman. She heard Wynonna threaten to cut off someone's balls if they cut off her boots or jacket.

Nicole remained quiet except for coughing as she disrobed and got into the gown they provided. Leads were attached to their chests. Tests were run. X-rays shot.

Waverly looked at Nicole and their eyes met. For a moment everything else in the room seemed to stop. Waverly smiled at Nicole and fought back tears. In the last two days she felt like she'd almost lost her twice. Waverly Earp was a planner. She always had been. But nothing prepared her for the overwhelming feelings that hit her every time she was around the Officer. She was falling in love.

Wynonna pushed the doctor's hand out of the was as he tried to look up her nose for singed hair or soot. She saw the connection between Waverly and Nicole. She smiled. "Good choice baby girl." She thought to herself.

Wynonna winced as an ointment was applied to her burned leg. If hurt,but no more than a wicked sunburn she got in Cabo after day drinking tequila during festival.

A nurse approached Waverly with two large plastic bags filled with Nicole's and Wynonnas things.

"We need to run a few more tests. I can come get you and give you their room numbers..." The nurse said. But was interrupted by Wynonna.

"Same room Nurse Jackie." She said sternly. The nurse turned and looked at the patient.

"Wynonna Earp..." The nurse began to argue.

"Same room Linda." Wynonna said with a smirk. "Or I go live on Facebook about your favorite pastime."

Linda, the nurse, gasped and her eyes went wide.

"You wouldn't!" She said.

Wynonna leaned back on the gurney. "Well okay then, I guess I'll have to figure out with of these guys in scrubs is Doctor "Do Me"with the big black..."

Waverly pursed her lips together and put her hand to her mouth. The nurse turned bright red.

"Same rooms!" The nurse yelled before Wynonna could finish her sentence as she turned on her heel and fled the treatment area.

"For the record I was gonna say stethoscope." Wynonna said to Waverly.

"I'm sure." Waverly said.

Two techs began to wheel Nicole out of the room. "She needs another chest X-ray" one said.

"I'm ok Wave." Nicole said her voice still hoarse and raw.

Nicole grabbed the rail of the bed and stopped it. She looked over at Wynonna. This was not how she planned any of this. She had it all laid out as to how she would tell Wynonna about her feelings for Nicole. But plans be damned. Gus was right. You couldn't plan on everything. Sometimes the best things were surprises.

She touched Nicole's cheek and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Stop scaring me." She whispered with a smile. Nicole smiled back.

"I promise." Nicole said back to her.


End file.
